VOORHEES, N.J. — From Winnipeg to Minnesota to Tampa Bay to Edmonton to Anaheim, then back to Minnesota to North Jersey and finally, to Philadelphia.

To Kurtis Foster, that was a long but worthwhile path to wind up where he often wished to go.

The Flyers have signed Foster, the 6-5, 225-pound free agent defenseman entering his 11th NHL season. Last year, he played a total of 51 games for Anaheim, Minnesota and New Jersey, collecting four goals and 10 assists. Sunday, he was working with the Flyers’ power play units in Day 1 of their long-delayed training camp at the Skate Zone.

Fully recovered from such a severely broken leg in 2008 that the NHL had to rework its rules on how much contact was permitted during routine icing plays, Foster spent some of the lockout playing in Finland, then chose the Flyers from what was apparently a shallow pool of suitors.

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“I don’t want to say who, but I had a couple offers,” said Foster, who is also recovered from a fractured clavicle suffered in Finland. “One offer for sure. And there were other teams interested. But from the beginning, when I heard about the Flyers, it is a team that everyone knows about. It’s a storied franchise. It is fun to put on a jersey and be part of something like this. It is pretty amazing.”

The Flyers were still looking to replace the blue-line presence of the concussed Chris Pronger, and Foster fits the physical specs, if hardly the accomplishments. He has played 382 NHL games and has scored 41 goals.

“Obviously, he is a good player,” said Claude Giroux, the likely Flyers captain. “He’s got a bomb back there. His shot is really impressive. Today, at practice, he looked great. He played in Finland, too, so he is in pretty good shape.

“Erik is probably two weeks from playing,” Paul Holmgren said. “And Marc-Andre we won’t know about until he sees the doctor later this month. We just felt it was a gaping hole in our organizational depth, and we were able to be aggressive with Kurtis.”

According to reports, the Flyers will pay Foster about $950,000 in a one-year contract.

“When I got the chance to come here, I was just excited to show that my skating was back to where used to be, and I hope I can chip in and help the team,” Foster said. “Because I know this is a pretty amazing team that can go far.”

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The Flyers are without Danny Briere, who broke his wrist while playing during the lockout in Germany. According to Holmgren, Briere will see a doctor Monday.

“I think we’ll have a better idea tomorrow,” the GM said Sunday. “He’s going to get an MRI or an x-ray just to see how things are coming together. We’ll have a better idea then.”

This runs counter to what Briere said early last week, saying he felt confident that the wrist injury he suffered while playing in Germany was only a sprain.

Officially, the Flyers are not expecting Pronger to play this season. Pronger played just 13 games last season before experiencing severe concussion symptoms.

“He’s going to see the doctor,” Holmgren said. “Chris actually does a lot of things for us. He’s been to the odd game. He does a lot of video scouting for us of young players. He tells it like it is. He tells it as he sees it.”

As did Holmgren, when asked if Pronger might play “down the road.”

“Down the road?” the general manager said. “I guess you could say there is a slight chance. But I’d probably classify it as highly unlikely.”

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Flyers president Peter Luukko was thrilled – but not necessarily surprised – that as many as 4,000 people saw the Flyers practice Sunday. Though the Skate Zone accommodates about 2,000 spectators, the Day 1 practice was lengthy, and fans came and went throughout the day.

“It’s pretty overwhelming,” Luukko said. “It’s overwhelming not only for all of us, but for the players and the coaches. It has just been fantastic. The fans want to see you play. They don’t want to see us in the business page and worry about labor disputes. It says we are moving forward. It is time to get playing and move on with the season.”

Added Luukko: “Our fans are so passionate. Today proved it is all about the Flyers and they are Philly’s team.”

NOTES: The Flyers still have not appointed a captain. Holmgren said he will discuss the matter with coach Peter Laviolette this week. ... With 48 games to change his mind, Laviolette opened training camp with these line pairings: Giroux centering Scott Hartnell and Brayden Schenn, Sean Couturier with Max Talbot and Jakub Voracek, Scott Laughton between Matt Read and Wayne Simmonds, and Ruslan Fedotenko with Tye McGinn and Zac Rinaldo. The initial defensive pairings: Braydon Coburn and Andrej Meszaros, Luke Schenn and Kimmo Timonen, and Andreas Lilja and Bruno Gervais. ... The Flyers will hold an open practice at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center. Steve Coates will be the M.C. There is no cost, but tickets are required and will become available at philadelphiaflyers.com beginning at noon Monday. Single-game tickets for the Flyers’ 24 home games will go on sale Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the WFC box offices, by calling 1-800-298-4200 or at comcastix.com. … The Flyers will practice all week at the Skate Zone in preparation for their season 3 p.m. opener against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday. The practices are open to the public. The daily starting times will be posted at philadelphiaflyers.com.